April 24, 2018

Officials from governments, the IMF, World Bank, the private sector and NGOs meet this week at the United Nations for the Financing for Development (FFD) Forum. The annual gathering seeks to implement the Addis Ababa Action Agenda that governments endorsed in 2015 in Ethiopia.

"These meetings are critical to address the root causes of poverty and raise revenue in the developing world," said Jubilee USA Executive Director Eric LeCompte. LeCompte has participated in FFD negotiations since 2012. "Better policies on tax, debt, trade and transparency issues are critical for lifting people out of poverty."

During the forum, public statements and private negotiations focus on new debt relief processes for Caribbean and small islands ahead of the next hurricane season. Islands from Dominica to Barbuda are still recovering from the 2017 hurricane season.

"There is growing consensus among a number of decision making bodies to put in place permanent debt relief processes to protect small islands when they are hit by natural disasters," noted Eric LeCompte who supported similar processes at the IMF. "We must all act quickly as the next hurricane season begins in just a few weeks."

April 23, 2018

Eric LeCompte, Executive Director of Jubilee USA was recently featured in All Africa speaking on global debt. Read excerpt below and follow link to full article.

Ghana: IMF Warns Ghana Over Financial Crises

By Felix Dela Klutse

"IMF sees continued economic growth, but it's warning that continued growth is short lived," Executive Director of Jubilee USA, Eric LeCompte, has stated during the 2018 Spring Meetings of the IMF and the World Bank Group in Washington DC, USA.

He continued: "Rising debt levels are a growing risk around the world. Now is the time for countries to get their houses in order to prevent and be prepared for future financial crises."

Mr LeCompte said countries need to rebuild fiscal buffers, enact structural reforms, and steer monetary policy cautiously in an environment that is already complex and challenging in order to prevent any future financial crises.

April 21, 2018

The International Monetary and Financial Committee of the IMF released their communiqué of the Spring meetings, noting, "The window of opportunity remains open and should be used expeditiously to advance policies and reforms that sustain the current upswing, enhance resilience, and raise medium-term growth for the benefit of all." The IMF raised serious concerns this week that the global economy is in for a "bumpy road ahead."

Eric LeCompte, the Executive Director of the religious development group Jubilee USA, has monitored IMF meetings for 10 years and releases the following statement:

"On the anniversary of the 2018 financial crisis, the IMF issued a series of warnings about the future of the global economy.

"We still have not done enough to improve debt restructuring and enact measures for responsible lending and borrowing. Beyond preventing the next crisis, the IMF is warning that we could have a recipe for greater inequality that further divides the rich and the poor.

"The IMF is saying that now is the time for countries to get their houses in order to prevent and prepare for future financial crises. The IMF is warning that rising debt levels are a growing risk around the world."

April 20, 2018

World leaders, finance ministers, the private sector and nongovernmental organizations begin the Spring International Monetary Fund and World Bank meetings on the 10-year anniversary of the global financial crisis. On Tuesday the IMF's economic outlook report predicts short-term global growth to 3.9%, it highlights debt levels, trade policies, decreased labor participation and aging populations as risks to long-term growth.

"The IMF is saying that now is the time for countries to get their houses in order to prevent and prepare for future financial crises," noted Jubilee USA Executive Director Eric LeCompte who serves on United Nation expert groups that focus on economic issues. LeCompte has monitored IMF meetings since the onset of the financial crisis. "The IMF is warning that rising debt levels are a growing risk around the world."

On Wednesday the Fund released its Global Financial Stability Report raising concerns that the global economy faces a "bumpy road ahead." The report warns that due to short and medium-term risks, the financial system could face serious risks to growth. Recently the Fund released analysis focusing on specific concerns with rising, unsustainable debt levels in Africa.

"We still have not done enough to improve debt restructuring and enact measure for responsible lending and borrowing," said LeCompte. "Beyond preventing the next crisis, the IMF is warning that we could have a recipe for greater inequality further dividing the rich and the poor."

April 18, 2018

As Puerto Rico's oversight board considers a fiscal plan, major religious leaders say the final plan should cut debt, prevent austerity and reduce child poverty. San Juan's Catholic Archbishop, Puerto Rico Evangelical Bible Society leader and the Executive Director of the island's Catholic Charities sent a letter to the oversight board.

"We are writing as you prepare to certify a new fiscal plan for Puerto Rico that takes into account the devastation and immense suffering of Puerto Rico's people due to hurricanes, Irma and Maria, wrote Archbishop Roberto González, Reverend Heriberto Martinez and Reverend Enrique Camancho. "We are concerned that the current fiscal plan under debate fails to consider the serious impact of these storms. We are concerned that monies Congress authorized for healthcare and hurricane relief could be used to pay creditors."

In the summer of 2016, Congress passed emergency debt crisis legislation that created a federally appointed oversight board to implement a fiscal plan for an island that wrestles with a 58% child poverty rate. After the hurricanes struck, the oversight board withdrew their original plan in order to create a new plan to take into account the impact of the storms.

Puerto Rico's Governor submitted a new plan that the oversight board is scheduled to certify this week. The new proposed fiscal plan pays 40 cents on the dollar for debt service when the previous plan in place before the hurricanes paid 25 cents on the dollar to creditors. Governor Ricardo Rosselló and the oversight board have disagreed about implementing a debt payment moratorium and cuts to public pensions.

"Puerto Rico can not pay any debt until it recovers from the hurricanes, sees sustained economic growth and a reduction in child poverty," noted Jubilee USA Executive Director Eric LeCompte who advises Puerto Rico's religious leaders. "In addition to canceling most of Puerto Rico's debt, a new fiscal plan should prevent further austerity, curtail corruption and support adequate social protections."

In the letter that the religious leaders sent to the oversight board on Tuesday, they called for a 5 year debt payment moratorium, for at least 80% of the total debt to be cut and urged that a focus of the plan should be to stem migration from Puerto Rico.

"We urge all stakeholders to dialogue and work together for rebirth, freedom and new life for Puerto Rico's people. Puerto Rico can be reborn after the hurricanes," stated Puerto Rico's religious leaders in their letter to the oversight board. "Puerto Rico's people can be free from debt, corruption and constraining economic policies."

April 17, 2018

The International Monetary Fund releases its World Economic Outlook (WEO) Report, forecasting global growth in the short-term and raising concerns on possible economic downturns beyond the next few quarters. The Fund issues the report ahead of the Spring IMF and World Bank meetings where world leaders, finance ministers and nongovernmental organizations gather this weekend on the 10-year anniversary of the global financial crisis.

"In the near term the IMF sees continued economic growth, but it's warning that continued growth is short lived," noted Jubilee USA Executive Director Eric LeCompte, who has tracked IMF meetings for nearly 10 years. "The IMF is warning that rising debt levels are a growing risk around the world."

"The IMF is asserting that now is the time for countries to get their houses in order to prevent and be prepared for future financial crises," noted LeCompte who serves on United Nation expert groups that focus on economic issues. "Overall these economic forecasts allude to growing inequality and increasing divides between the rich and the poor."